Veronica Cale (Prime Earth)

As a result of the 2011 initiative, the New 52, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation's. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page.

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I need a demigod, Barbara Ann. Not a god, not a mortal... somewhere in between. That's the only way to reach the realThemyscira. And if I can't get you to do it, then I need Wonder Woman. And if I have to force her to come to me by killing everyone she loves, then so be it.

Contents

History

Origin

Godwatch

Veronica despised Wonder Woman as soon as she entered the world stage, believing her message of peace and love to be naive and ineffective. Approximately six months after Wonder Woman's arrival to the United States, Cale's daughter Isadore was ambushed by the twin gods Phobos and Deimos. The gods took Isadore's soul and left her physical form faceless and unable to speak. They offered Veronica a deal; allow them to use Empire Enterprises' newly-developed Cyberwalk system to access Wonder Woman's mind in order to find the location of Themyscira, and they would grant Izzy her soul back. The Cyberwalk system was created to allow the full download of the consciousness of any individual exposed to it. Adrianna agreed to operate the Cyberwalk system while the gods lured Wonder Woman to be used as its subject. However, the procedure was interrupted midway through and Adrianna was killed. Having lost her daughter and her only friend, Veronica swore vengeance on the world.[1]

The Cyberwalk system downloaded the contents of Adrianna's mind in the process, allowing Veronica to create a duplicate of her friend in the form of an artificial intelligence. In this form, Adrianna dubbed herself Doctor Cyber. At the request of Phobos and Deimos, Veronica agreed to fund Wonder Woman's archeologist friend Barbara Minerva's expedition investigating the god Urzkartaga. Phobos and Deimos planned for Barbara to be transformed by Urzkartaga into the Cheetah and Veronica ensured Wonder Woman would not prevent this from happening. With the help of Doctor Cyber, she manufactured disasters all over the world to distract Wonder Woman while Barbara was given the curse of the Cheetah.[2]

Running out of hope to restore her daughter, Cale instead chose to focus on punishing Phobos and Deimos for their actions. She summoned the witch Circe, who agreed to use a ritual to transform the gods into dogs in exchange for a fee. Circe also revealed to Veronica that Isadore's soul had been taken by Phobos and Deimos' father, Ares, and she was imprisoned with him in a realm beneath Themyscira. In order to free Isadore's soul, Ares would have to be released.[3] In response, Veronica set up the organization Godwatch, dedicated to using Wonder Woman to find the location of Themyscira. She recruited the Cheetah and Colonel Poison and her Team Poison to the cause.[4]

The Truth

Veronica Cale sets her plans into action

Veronica set Godwatch's plans into motion, using Doctor Cyber to impersonate A.R.G.U.S. director Sasha Bordeaux in order to retrieve the recently captured Urzkartaga, who had been reduced to a potted plant by Wonder Woman.[5] Meanwhile, Team Poison attempted to track down Wonder Woman, but failed thanks to the intervention of Steve Trevor and his team.[6] In an attempt to get Veronica to stop her plans, Barbara Minerva, who had recently been cured of the Cheetah's curse, met Cale at her office. Veronica ordered Team Poison to pursue an attack on Steve Trevor and Etta Candy, friends of Barbara and Wonder Woman. Doctor Cyber forced Barbara to watch the attack, while Veronica offered to cease it if Barbara agreed to become the Cheetah once more. Barbara agreed and Veronica called off the attack, before using a sample collected from Urzkartaga to transform Barbara into the Cheetah once again.[7]

Cale took Cheetah to what she believed was a gateway to Themyscira, and led Wonder Woman there as well. Together, Wonder Woman and Cheetah were able to open the gateway and Veronica entered with Isadore's earthly body, alongside Diana. The gateway led to the realm beneath Themyscira, where Veronica found Izzy, fully restored, beside Ares.[8] After Wonder Woman defeated Phobos and Deimos, Veronica attempted to return to Earth with Isadore, but Ares informed her that her soul remains tied to Themyscira, and if she were to leave she would be split once again. The only option was for Izzy to live on Themyscira alongside the Amazons. Veronica tearfully said goodbye to her daughter.[9]

Feeling that the last ten years spent trying to restore Izzy were all a waste, Veronica's hatred of Wonder Woman, the gods and the Amazons was only strengthened. Cheetah sought revenge against Cale and attacked her at her home, but she was prevented from killing Veronica due to the arrival of Wonder Woman, who left after telling Veronica that she would always be alone.[10]

This character is or was primarily an enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons in any of her various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Villains category."